Last month (June 6), Endless Grind and FM Goods of Raleigh had a collaborative show and benefit called “Drawing Blanks.” A bunch of blank skateboard decks were painted by local artists, and then they were all silent auctioned on the First Friday in June. The auction benefitted The Disabled American Veterans of NC.

The show was great and packed! but the audience was more into the scene than owning any of the decks. Lucky for me, cause I scored these 3 Paul Friedrich cowboys for a nice price! Picked ‘em up today and just had to share.

Milkmaid, Shaun Richards (contact Designbox for purchase info)

Designbox is privileged to host Shaun Richards’ latest show called Click Clique, which the News and Observer named as one of this week’s Art Picks. “Click Clique is a new series of paintings and constructions that examine social dynamics, and nostalgic constructs, along with the interplay of media within American society. Richards’ work, evolving from an interest centered on the South, questions notions of beauty, artifice, and materialism, as well as the subtle contradictions that make living in the South a unique experience.”

The opening of the show was this past Friday, March 7, and was very successful. Many visitors had never seen Richards’ work, and were impressed by his old world painterly quality that somehow keeps its contemporary edge. For those familiar with Richards’ work, the show offers the opportunity to see Shaun experiment with a smaller canvas. He treated this small size differently than his better known larger works by exploring tighter croppings and simpler foreground to background relationships. This reduced field of view ultimately alters the story of each painting or theme in interesting ways.

Shaun has done a lot since returning to NC and moving to Raleigh in 2006, including but not limited to:
January 2007 – awarded the Regional Emerging Artist Residency at Artspace.
September 2007 – recognized as one of the “21 under 31″ of 2007 by Southwest Art magazine.
March 2008 – won Best in Show out of 600 entries, 61 of which were accepted, at the North Carolina Artists Exhibit (sponsored by the Raleigh fine Arts Society and juried by Larry Wheeler, Director, NCMOA). The exhibit is currently up at Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts.

Shaun is represented by Flanders Art Gallery in Raleigh and Fountainside Gallery in Wilmington. He has studio space at 311 Martin St Galleries.

The Designbox show is up until Friday, March 28. Hours are Monday-Friday 10am-5pm or by appointment.
Shaun’s site is here.

Pictures below are from past shows – not necessarily what you will see this year…
Check the Fearrington site for full details.

White Hand, Peter Callesen 2007

Distant Wish, Peter Callesen 2006

Distant Wish (detail), Peter Callesen 2006

Click here to see more from his gallery
(or see his bio for more gallery info and representation).
If you are interested in seeing his work in person, his next show opening (his first solo show in Denmark in 5 years) is at
Helene Nyborg Contemporary, Copenhagen, Denmark, and opens Apr 17th, 2008.

Below are some details on products that will be on sale at this year’s Brand Fandango:

AH Peele
Good stuff (like awesome screenprinted tees) made with love.

Blue Barnhouse
Letterpress & design out of Asheville, NC. Beautiful cards, stationery and other nifty gifts.

Nahualli’s Chocolate Seeds
Chocolate Seeds are made with peeled organic whole cocoa beans enrobed with dark chocolate. Oro are made from dark chocolate covered cocoa nibs accented with 23K gold.

Gamila Facemods
Facemod: Self Centerpiece Candlesticks fuse the latest in 3d printing technology with the classic Edgar Rubin illusion of faces and candlesticks. Just provide Gamila with a photograph of your favorite person’s profile, and they will generate a candle holder made directly from their face! The whole process can be witnessed at the show.

Gamila Teasticks
From the original tea infuser born and bred in Raleigh, Gamila has this month launched the translucent Gems collection which is tailored for herbal teas. Gamila also has a range of Tavalon teas and Adagio glass mugs.

Mila Art Jackets
Local artists Paul Friedrich, David Eichenberger, Casey Porn, Joey Fralin, Dale Flattum, Beth Khalifa, Adam Peele and others have created art jackets to fold around your iPod. Slip your ‘pod into a Mila Bikini for permanent screen protection, and then snap it in and out of your favorite Art Jackets.

Pacific Design Indie Art iPod and PSP Gaming Cases
Celebrate local artists Paul Friedrich and David Eichenberger going national in Circuit City and Sears! These cases have highlighted the local art sene with their artwork decorating your favorite digital device.

mostess {creations}
designs for the modern homemaker (including beautiful aprons and baby bibs).

Wootini
mysterious cavalcade of oddities

sewbliss
cool—knit-sew—too…

Julie Armbruster
encaustic paranoia and curiosity with a glimmer of hope.

Kiona van Rhee-Wilson
lucky Accessories: designs with a universal notion of beauty

Geoff Wood
husband . photographer . band member . son . uncle . friend

John Mercer
tasty bites on canvas

The Joyery
Cute and Comfy Coffee Cuffs

Stir Studios
Modern jewelry with a vintage flair

Are You Decent?
funky fresh elegant jewelry design

Horse and Buggy Press
letterpress printing (and more) for the jet age (and beyond)